Creating template sensor from the sensors

[adrusa]

I was trying to make a template sensor out of some of the sensors here. While it is possible for me to use filters and lambda to return the desired value, that means I will lose the raw data generated by the sensor. The help I need is to create a template sensor out of one of the sensors, but return both the raw data and the templated sensor for use in home assistance. Any help is welcome. I recognised I can do this easily in HA, but I don't want to add additional template to HA. Thank you.

[strom-peter]

@adrusa Hello, I want to use sensor values in .yaml to sent over UDP direct to a server. UDP sending is working, bud how to access the sensor values? maybe you can help me

[Fabian-Schmidt]

Hi,

I am unsure about both questions. Accessing sensor data in lambda can be very easy. Example:

sensor:
# Raw sensor
  - platform: victron_ble
    victron_ble_id: MySmartShunt
    name: "Battery voltage"
    type: BATTERY_VOLTAGE
    id: shunt_BATTERY_VOLTAGE
# Template sensor
  - platform: template
    name: "Template Sensor"
    lambda: |-
      return id(shunt_BATTERY_VOLTAGE).state;
    update_interval: 60s

Maybe @adrusa and @strom-peter can provide an example yaml of the problem?

[strom-peter]

Hello, and thanks for the input, bud i don't know how to start the UDP-script from sensors.... with the button, sending is working

script:
- id: send_udp
  parameters:
    val: float
  then:
    - lambda: |-

          int port = 5000;
          std::string host = "192.168.178.48";
          std::string msg = "measurement ";
          msg.append("tag=");
          msg.append(to_string(val));
          ESP_LOGI("send_udp", "msg= %s", msg.c_str());

          int sock = ::socket(AF_INET, SOCK_DGRAM, 0);
          struct sockaddr_in destination, source;

          destination.sin_family = AF_INET;
          destination.sin_port = htons(port);
          destination.sin_addr.s_addr = inet_addr(host.c_str());

          int n_bytes = ::sendto(sock, msg.c_str(), msg.length(), 0, reinterpret_cast<sockaddr*>(&destination), sizeof(destination));
          ESP_LOGD("lambda", "Sent %s to %s:%d in %d bytes", msg.c_str(), host.c_str(), port, n_bytes);
          ::close(sock);

# for testing UDP
button:
- platform: template
  id: button_udp_sender
  name: "Send UDP Command"
  on_press:
    - script.execute:
        id: send_udp
        val: 123.45

esp32_ble_tracker:

victron_ble:
  - id: MySmartShunt
    mac_address: ${smart_shunt_mac_address}
    bindkey: ${smart_shunt_encryption_key}
    on_battery_monitor_message:
      - logger.log: "Message from Battery Monitor."

# do I need globals??
globals:
  - id: battU
    type: float

sensor:
# Raw sensor
  - platform: victron_ble
    victron_ble_id: MySmartShunt
    name: "Battery voltage"
    type: BATTERY_VOLTAGE
    id: shunt_BATTERY_VOLTAGE

# Template sensor
  - platform: template
    name: "Template Sensor"
    lambda: |-
        ESP_LOGI("Template sensor", "Value: %f", id(shunt_BATTERY_VOLTAGE).state);
// send to UDP ????
        return id(shunt_BATTERY_VOLTAGE).state;
    update_interval: 10s

[Fabian-Schmidt]

Hi @strom-peter,

I can suggest four possible solutions:

1. Use on_battery_monitor_message and script.execute:

   victron_ble:
    - id: MySmartShunt
      mac_address: ${smart_shunt_mac_address}
      bindkey: ${smart_shunt_encryption_key}
      on_battery_monitor_message:
        - script.execute:
            id: send_udp
            # 0.01 V to 1 V
            val: !lambda return 0.01f * message->battery_voltage;

2. Use on_battery_monitor_message and lambda:

   victron_ble:
     - id: MySmartShunt
       mac_address: ${smart_shunt_mac_address}
       bindkey: ${smart_shunt_encryption_key}
       on_battery_monitor_message:
         - lambda: id(send_udp)->execute(0.01f * message->battery_voltage);

3. Use sensor and script.execute:

   sensor:
     - platform: victron_ble
       victron_ble_id: MySmartShunt
       name: "Battery voltage"
       type: BATTERY_VOLTAGE
       id: shunt_BATTERY_VOLTAGE
       on_value:
         then:
           - script.execute:
               id: send_udp
               val: !lambda return x;

4. Interval every 10 second just sent the last known value.

   interval:
     - interval: 10s
       then: 
         lambda: |-
           if(!std::isnan(id(shunt_BATTERY_VOLTAGE).state)) {
             id(send_udp)->execute(id(shunt_BATTERY_VOLTAGE).state);
           }

Solution 1-3 generates an UDP package as soon as a new value is received via Bluetooth. So very often. Using on_battery_monitor_message has advantages if you don't need the sensor component and your device has performance or memory consumption issues. Using the sensor is cleaner implementation. Solution 4 is a bit dumb and will also generate values if no new values are found by the Sensor, but it will not generate too many UDP packages.

I am unsure about your use case so I am hoping one of the solutions is suited.

[strom-peter]

@Fabian-Schmidt, many thanks, for fast and competent replay,

I want to readout 4 mppt-charger and send data to influxdb over UDP to visualization data in Grafana. With your help, now 2 chargers works, the other 2 I have to wire up..... I use: on_battery_monitor_message and lambda

victron_ble:
  - id: mppt01
    submit_sensor_data_asap: true
    mac_address: ${mppt01_mac_address}
    bindkey: ${mppt01_encryption_key}
    on_solar_charger_message:
      - lambda: |-
            id(send_udp)->execute("mppt01_battU", 0.01f * message->battery_voltage);
            id(send_udp)->execute("mppt01_battI", 0.1f * message->battery_current);
            id(send_udp)->execute("mppt01_pvPower", message->pv_power);
            id(send_udp)->execute("mppt01_yieldToday", 0.01f * message->yield_today);

  - id: mppt02
    submit_sensor_data_asap: true
    mac_address: ${mppt02_mac_address}
    bindkey: ${mppt02_encryption_key}
    on_solar_charger_message:
      - lambda: |-
            id(send_udp)->execute("mppt02_battU", 0.01f * message->battery_voltage);
            id(send_udp)->execute("mppt02_battI", 0.1f * message->battery_current);
            id(send_udp)->execute("mppt02_pvPower", message->pv_power);
            id(send_udp)->execute("mppt02_yieldToday", 0.01f * message->yield_today);

[Fabian-Schmidt]

@adrusa Can you please share an example configuration so I can assist you?